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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26602828">Longing: Why Do We Do It?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/haunteddollteeth/pseuds/haunteddollteeth'>haunteddollteeth</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Greendale Community College [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Community (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Best Friends, F/M, M/M, Why Did I Write This?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:34:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,292</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26602828</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/haunteddollteeth/pseuds/haunteddollteeth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
            <p>We open on an ordinary day in Greendale. An ordinary day in Greendale without Troy Barnes.</p>
          </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andre Bennett/Shirley Bennett, Britta Perry/Jeff Winger, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Greendale Community College [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935274</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Longing: Why Do We Do It?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>We open on an ordinary day in Greendale. An ordinary day in Greendale without Troy Barnes.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had become something of a tradition since they moved in together oh so long ago, that no matter what was going on, they'd always make time for each other at least once a week. Back before Troy left and they still lived together, it was an easier task because they never left one another's company. Any reasonable person would just assume they were attached at the hip (or more likely hands since they never parted). Things changed when Troy got on that boat. Him being at sea complicated things much more than Abed cared for and the former handled it with as much grace as a drunk newborn deer on a frozen lake.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>In Abed's mind, this theoretically shouldn't be a very difficult thing to do, there's always a specific formula in which these things go down in movies and TV and he's rarely seen it change. He also knows that movies and TV aren't reality and shouldn't be considered as such because human emotions and connections are much much more complicated than that. When he met Troy and they had the opportunity to become very close, they both felt understood and like they didn't have to hide every aspect about their real personalities. Abed was comfortable.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>The two of them (then three when Annie moved in) had settled into a nice routine that worked for everyone. In the pre-Annie days, Troy and Abed would wake up and go to school and do "normal-functioning-adult" things. After Annie moved in, the three of them would get up, Annie usually woke up the boys, lightly scolding them for being old enough to do it on their own, and eat breakfast together. Most days they'd enjoy the typical light chaos and antics that ensue whenever the trio are in a room together, but on some days they'd make pancakes or waffles. The way that was decided was a borderline violent debate that typically ended in the winner giving up the rights to pick what they watched while they ate (a small price to pay in Abed's mind because they were both satisfied either way). He knew it couldn't last. More importantly, he knew it wouldn't last. Abed has seen his parents marriage take a nosedive directly into the toilet and a very similar situation with many of his friends' relationships. Even knowing him and Troy were most likely destined for suffering, he still let himself indulge and ignore the future possibilities for as long as he could until it was no longer avoidable and Troy got on a boat with LeVar Burton to sail around the world in one year.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>Let's get one thing very clear: Abed was happy for Troy. LeVar Burton was the guys hero for fucks sake, what was Abed gonna do? Be mad at either of them? He wouldn't do that for something that wasn't either of their faults. Pierce was really the one to blame, if we're pointing fingers. He's the bastard who sent Troy on this mission in the first place. Regardless, he's dead. There's no point in being mad at a ghost even if it might drive the plot forward. Troy was worth it. Troy was worth it and Abed missed him.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>They did talk whenever they got the chance to, even if it was rarer than the original Kickpuncher VHS tapes (that's extremely rare for those that are severely uncultured). Cell service shockingly wasn't very good in the middle of the Pacific, who would have thought. When they did get the chance, it was essentially:</p><p>"Hey Abed! I haven't been eaten by Jaws yet, how are you... and Annie?"</p><p><br/>
</p><p>"Cool, cool cool cool. Everything's cool."</p><p><br/>
</p><p>"That's great man! Hey, I gotta go right now, there's apparently a pretty bad storm coming right where we docked and I gotta go get safe, but I'll call you again as soon as I can! See ya soon!"</p><p><br/>
</p><p>"Yeah I'll see yo-"</p><p><br/>
</p><p>More or less like that. Sometimes the connection doesn't get cut off and sometimes they can actually have a real conversation besides literally just letting the other one know they themselves aren't dead. Personally, Abed isn't very happy with the current situation, but it'll risk Troy's mission given to him by a dead man if he says anything to ruin it. Troy's kinda like a pirate, right? He has a boat and a sort of small crew and if Abed was there they could re-enact the entire Pirates of the Caribbean series and have a great time and maybe even LeVar Burton would leave them alone from time to time and they'd be able to do the roma-</p><p><br/>
</p><p>"Abed! Are you even paying attention? This stuff is kind of important, especially since you're going with Jeff and we all know he won't pay attention to anything anyone says if they aren't facing a mirror at him."</p><p><br/>
</p><p>"Yes, of course I was listening, Annie."</p><p><br/>
</p><p>"Since your boyfriends coming back are you gonna finally spend some time at your own place," Jeff muttered with a slight scoff while Annie, Britta, and Shirley shot him a very familiar look that meant they were about two seconds away from throwing him out a window.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>"Jeffery, I know you didn't just say that to him when you've been spending all your time at my sandwich shop." Shirley quickly replaced her death-glare with an overly-sweet look and tone of voice. She was about to open a new place in a couple of months and was there for the preparations before the public could see it.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>"Abed's just excited, we all are. We haven't seen Troy at all in the past year, will you let us enjoy something without being a total douche?" Britta retorted. Besides her typical blonde hair and fuck-the-patriarchy performative bullshit, she recently "decided" to add to the look by shaving off half her hair, getting a nose ring, and snakebites. In actuality she got a little bit too drunk one night and accepted a couple dares from Jeff that she regretted the minute she was sober.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>Jeff was only further provoking the remaking members of the Study Group when saying, "I don't know Britta, Troy had the right idea when he ditched us for LeVar fucking Burton on th-"</p><p><br/>
</p><p>Abed cut in, "It isn't Troy's fault that Pierce left him the boat and the opportunity to travel the world with his hero. If you're gonna point that out as a part of your argument, Jeff, you should at least be using it with the full context and not just pieces that help you out."</p><p><br/>
</p><p>"Abed is right Jeff, you can't do that. It's not right to Pierce or Troy." At least Annie was here to agree, that meant something to Abed that he hoped he would be able to convey to her.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>Jeff began making more remarks under his breath which Shirley caught, because she has three boys and she wasn't born yesterday. When she told him off for it, Britta took the bait and took off on her rantings about how one comment Jeff made was misogynistic and chauvinist (she was right, it was extremely disrespectful) all the while he was smirking because she played right into it. Annie was trying to diffuse the situation before they started fist-fighting in the middle of her and Abed's apartment. Abed was running through simulations about what might have been had one thing gone even slightly differently. Things had been reminding him of the Bad Timeline lately and had only gotten worse as the days went by.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>If it wasn't already painfully obvious, the group completely fell apart after losing an entire side of the table to various tragedies. But maybe, just maybe, they would turn around now that Troy was coming back.</p>
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